Most of my neighbors know that we have been feeding and collecting the stray kittens. The herd can be seen peering out of our windows, watching the birds and other wild life. While I know there are some cats as house pets in the neighborhood, dogs seem to be the pet-of-choice around here.
One Sunday afternoon in mid-September 2008, my neighbor’s daughter called me over to their yard next door. They had found four kittens under the wood pile at the back of the yard. Earlier in the summer, I had remarked to Barb that I thought Gabby, one of our strays, was pregnant. Then one morning, she was suddenly thinner, so I assumed she had given birth. These were probably her babies, especially since two of them were colored exactly like her.
The children were carrying the kittens around, wrapped in towels or doll blankets. The kittens appeared to be 2-3 weeks old, as their eyes were open. I got a box and collected the babies, wondering what I was going to do with them. My neighbor did not appear to want them put back into the nest under his wood pile, and I was concerned that if I did, he might destroy them or the kids would continue to disturb them. So we sat the box of kittens on our deck where their mother came up to eat, hoping she would feed them and then move them to a safer location. Meanwhile, I did some Internet research on hand raising kittens. Of course, it was Sunday, so I made a quick run to one of the local pet stores for supplies, just making it before they closed for the evening. When I got home, Barb reported that Gabby had completely ignored the kittens, so we decided we would try to hand raise them.
I carried the box into the basement, and transferred the kittens into a bigger, taller box so they could not escape. I filled the nursing bottle I bought at the pet store with KMR (Kitten Replacement Milk), and took a deep breath. The kittens were very hungry and quickly took to the bottle. Mommy duties did not end there, we also had to massage their little butts, just like their natural mother’s tongue, to stimulate them to pee and poop. At their age, their digestive systems were not fully developed and the mother’s tongue is needed to keep them clean and functional.
The toughest part of the routine was the feeding schedule needed. We were very fortunate that Barb was just beginning a week of vacation the next day, so she could handle the feedings every 4-6 hours that were needed during the day. I took care of feeding them before I left for work (about 5:00a.m.), when I got home from work, and throughout the evening. I also scheduled a visit to the vet for a checkup. There, we determined the four little girls were probably about 3 weeks old, and appeared to be in good health, for the moment. I also found a staff member who had raised many kittens by hand, and provided some valuable advice and guidance. We decided to call them Enie, Menie, Miney and Mo, since we were not going to keep these. When old enough, they were going to go to good homes, but not ours.
Every time the basement door opened, the kittens in the box would start to cry, the runt of the litter was the loudest. We called the two dark tabbies (like their mother), Enie and Menie. The silver tabby was Miney, and the solid dark gray kitten was Mo. After the first week, we were able to stretch out the feedings to better accommodate our work schedules.
After every bottle, we had to not only wipe kitty butts, but also their faces and bodies with a warm, damp washcloth. This action simulated their mother’s tongues. Each kitten was then held and cuddled. They were so very affectionate, and loved to climb up to our chins. Once they seemed strong enough, we started exercising them a bit in the stairway, where they would stretch and climb the stairs, eventually ending in a sleepy kitty pile. All the time this was happening, we were also trying to domesticate Sable and Belle in the big cage. It was enough to make me crazy.
About this time, I noticed that Miney seemed to have an eye infection, so I called the vet and got her in right away. She was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection, and I was given oral antibiotics as well as an antibiotic cream for her eyes. She was started on it right away. I had enough for all the kittens, but I did not think the others were affected. Then one morning, Mo stopped taking the bottle, so I gave her a dose of the antibiotic. Unfortunately, it was a case of too little, too late. When I got home, I found Mo has died in the box. We were upset, and I blamed myself for her loss. Immediately, the other kittens were started on the antibiotics, and they all managed to survive the incident.
If I thought they got dirty after drinking milk from a bottle, I was appalled with the mess they made when we introduced them to solid food. We started by mixing ground cat food with warm water to make a gruel. First they walked through it, not realizing they were supposed to eat it. Then it seemed like they must have rolled in it! What a mess. Wet washcloths did not do the same quality job mommy’s tongue did. We also used dry kitten food, soaked in water and mashed to a paste. Eventually they figured out it was food to eat. We still supplemented with the KMR in a bottle, but once we saw they were eating on their own, we began weaning them from the bottle. To keep them clean and free of skin irritations, we bathed them in the kitchen sink with Cat & Kitten shampoo twice a week until they learned to bathe themselves.
As the kittens grew and learned, Pagos, my 24-year old cat was on the decline. She began to sneeze and display the same symptoms she had a year and a half earlier. At that time, we had determined she was suffering from a serious infection due to several bad teeth. The infection had actually eaten its way into her sinus cavities. Following the extraction of three teeth and cleaning of the others, she had returned to good health. Now, the blood work conducted indicated she was suffering not only from an infection, but also kidney failure. I may have been able to nurse her along by giving her sub-cutaneous injections of water to keep her hydrated, but I decided that it would not have been a good solution for Pagos. I’m sure it would have caused her much more distress, than relief. So I decided not to let her suffer, and we said a painful good-bye after 24 wonderful years of sharing our lives.
By the time the kittens were given a clean bill of health and could be introduced to the rest of the herd, we had become so attached, that we could not part with them. All of our other cats were rescued after they had been fully weaned, and most could not be called “lap cats”. These three kittens most definitely are lap cats. They spent their first week in the “big house” sleeping on my sister whenever possible. Eventually, they found their way around, and now sleep elsewhere. But they still like to be held and cuddled.
Enie was renamed Shotzi, Menie was renamed Cupcake. Click on their names to open their Picture Galleries. Miney was the only kitten to retain some semblance of that first name. We decided to call her Hermione, but most of the time, we still call her Miney. The kittens have really been a joy to have around. Cupcake was the runt of the litter, but she has quickly caught up, and perhaps surpassed her sisters. She loves to talk, and is our certified bug hunter. Cupcake can find and kill any bug you can or cannot see. Shotzi, along with Cupcake sleep with me almost every night. Shotzi loves to play with little foam balls. She quite happily plays by herself in the stairs, all the while talking to her toys. It is adorable behavior, until it happens at 2:00 in the morning. Hermione is our counter kitty. Most of the cats ignore the kitchen counters, or we haven’t had many problems keeping them down. Hermione, on the other hand, comes up to get attention. I keep setting her down, and she keeps getting back up. I’m beginning to think it’s a lost cause.
Well, that’s the herd as it stands today. Two humans and 15 cats. I’m not sure who’s actually in charge, but we manage to rub along together pretty well.
View into the Kitchen
